Syracuse, N.Y. -- Decades come and decades go, leaving behind all kinds of memories. And, as noted in this corner of cyberspace on Friday, the sporting Aughts were not always kind to us in these parts. But, geez, they had to balance themselves out, didn’t they?

Sure, we’d like to venture back to those days between 2000-’09 and ask for a few mulligans, a few do-overs, a few alterations. But for the most part, the bulk of us hardly got cheated by that decade that has just trundled down the road.

With that in mind, and as advertised on New Year’s Day, here are just 10 random reasons why the preceding 10 years were filled with their share of seashells and balloons:

1) Syracuse University wore the NCAA Tournament crown. The Orange had been to the Final Four in each of the three decades prior to the one just ended -- in 1975, in 1987 and in 1996 -- so it had taken this town on that wondrous trip before. But in 2003, in the title game against Kansas, Carmelo Anthony went for a double-double, Gerry McNamara hit those six three-pointers in the first half and Hakim Warrick blocked Michael Lee just before the final buzzer . . . and the school had its first men’s basketball national championship. Almost as nice, Jim Boeheim came home from New Orleans wearing a funny hat.

2) The Creator’s Game ruled. For a very long time, we’ve been the Tuscany of lacrosse, turning that sport into so much art. But that last decade was something else. The Orange men won five national titles, the Le Moyne men won three national titles, the OCC men won three national titles, the Cortland State men won two national titles, the OCC women won one national title. Meanwhile, West Genesee High School won five state boys titles and five state girls titles. And then there was SU’s Michael Powell, who averaged 76.8 points per season between 2001-’04 and pushed himself into any discussion whose goal was to identify the greatest lacrosse player in history. It was, simply, a masterpiece of a decade.

3) The Syracuse Chiefs fled the Toronto Blue Jays. That marriage to the Jays had some serious legs, lasting as it did for 31 seasons. And while there were some decent years in that run, the fact is that in only eight campaigns under Toronto’s guidance did the Chiefs manage to win more games than they lost. But in September of ’08, the Syracuse club wisely uncoupled itself from the ambivalent Jays, hooked up with the Washington Nationals and happily found itself on the fringes of the ’09 playoff race with the promise of more of same in the decade just around the bend. Coincidence? You should probably think not.

4) SU football roared . . . well, a little bit. Granted, the Pasqualoni/Robinson/Marrone Orange reminded nobody of the Rockne/Leahy/Parseghian Irish. And, in fact, the best local college football story of the decade was provided by the wondrous Colgate Raiders, who in 2003 went 15-1 and to the Division I-AA national championship game. But during those rocky Aughts, Syracuse once did finish No. 14 in the AP and coaches polls (2001). And it did knock off six foes ranked in the Top 25. And it did beat Notre Dame, home and away. And it did draw Carrier Dome crowds of 45,000 and more on 10 occasions. And it did have 22 of its athletes chosen in the NFL Draft, including Dwight Freeney and Will Allen in the first round. And it did see Walter Reyes rush for 3,424 yards and 45 touchdowns. There was, then, some silver lining behind all those Orange clouds.

5) The Crunch was a mini-colossus. Down the stretch of the 2007-’08 AHL season, the Crunch -- led by its earthy scrapper, Zenon Konopka, who somehow grinded through two broken hands -- won 15 consecutive games en route to a record of 46-26-2-6. And then it survived its best-of-seven opening-round playoff series against Manitoba by winning four contests in overtime. And then it went to a seventh game in the next series before losing on the road against Toronto. Hockey can be as comfy as a rock in a pillow case, sure, but it can be a beautiful thing, too. Z-Man and his mates gave us both all at once.

6) All those high-school glory days were just that . . . glorious. As noted, while the West Genesee Wildcats made their lacrosse noise in the Aughts, they weren’t alone in the banging of the athletic pots and pans. Fayetteville-Manlius closed out the decade by winning four consecutive national titles in girls cross country. Jamesville-DeWitt won three state titles in boys basketball. CBA won the 2004 state football title in a game that will be remembered as one of the greatest sports events ever seen in the Dome. Auburn came from the proverbial near-nowhere to win the 2006 state football title. And the F-M girls tennis team won . . . well, it won every single time it played in the decade. Oh. My. Gosh.

7) The Big East Tournament thrilled . . . and thrilled again. Some might properly dismiss the thing as little more than a fund-raiser, but the BET became a stage for the Orange, particularly in the last half of the decade when it went 11-3 and won two titles. During that five-year stretch, McNamara sealed the deal on that Orange hero business by changing basketball water into basketball wine with all those splashes against Cincinnati, Connecticut, Georgetown and Pittsburgh in ’06. And just last March, Jonny Flynn and his mates painted that extraordinary six-overtime mural at UConn's expense in Madison Square Garden . . . and helped to sell a fair amount of t-shirts.

8) The horsey set came to town. For seven consecutive years in the decade just ended, beginning in 2003, the Syracuse Invitational Sporthorse Tournament set up its spectacular shop for a week or so at the Oncenter. And for seven consecutive years we were given the thrill of watching hundreds of magnificent beasts, weighing three-quarters of a ton and more, fly through the air will all kinds of costumed humans -- including our very own Olympic gold-medal winner, Beezie Madden -- strapped on their very expensive backs. If you chose to attend, you chose wisely.

9) Mike Hart and Greg Paulus wowed us. At one point, the kid who was arguably the best high-school running back in the nation (and would end up with 11,045 rushing yards and 204 touchdowns), carried the ball for Onondaga Central . . . and the kid who was arguably the best high-school quarterback in the nation (and would end up with 11,760 passing yards and 152 touchdowns), tossed the ball for CBA. And they did it for a few years at the same time. That would be Mike Hart, class of ’04 . . . and Greg Paulus, class of ’05. Stunning.

10) Jim Boeheim became a legend. He orchestrated his 600th victory, his 700th victory and his 800th victory in the Aughts. He won a national championship in the Aughts. He served as an aide on the United States National Team that earned an Olympic gold medal in the Aughts. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in the Aughts. He had the court inside the Carrier Dome named in his honor in the Aughts. His Syracuse club sat at 13-0 and fifth in the national polls at the end of the Aughts. All in all, it was a pretty good decade for our Coach Jim.

But then, it was a pretty good decade all around, too. Let’s hope for more of the same in the one that has just begun.

(Bud Poliquin’s column and his "To The Point" observations appear regularly in The Post-Standard. His work, including freshly-written on-line commentaries, can also be found virtually every day on syracuse.com. E-mail: bpoliquin@syracuse.com.)